So, you want to get into owning houseplants. Jumping straight into the deep end of plant parenting can be horrifically overwhelming, especially if you are just beginning your exploration of your green thumb (and even more so if you’re sticking to a tight budget!). So what do you really need to know in order to keep that first house plant alive? And can you do it without spending any extra money on plant supplies? The easy answer is, yes! Naturally, the execution might not be so easy, but as your collection grows so will your knowledge and experience. Until then, I’ll fill you in on my best plant tips I learned along my plant raising, and killing, journey!

   We’ll start by breaking down what I’m going to call the “Pillars of Planting,” five components of plant care that I find the most important for not just keeping a plant alive, but for building an understanding of your individual plants and their needs and habits. These pillars are water, pot, soil, temperature, and light. As separate pillars this may sound like a lot of things to keep track of, but you’ll come to find that most of them actually overlap!

   In my opinion, the biggest pillar you need to watch for when starting out is water. Without a doubt one of the top deaths of new plants comes from an issue with water, but it may not be in the way you think. A lot of new plant people are afraid of underwatering, and don’t realize the consequences of overwatering. Equate your plant’s pot to your home environment: it needs water (albeit in the pipes), but if you let water sit stagnant in say a basement, that leads to mold, rot, bugs, and if your foundation becomes rotted from this, your house is going to suffer. It’s exactly the same with plants! Your plant needs water to live, yes, but unless you have a plant that specifically needs to be submerged, sitting in lots of water for a long time will cause similar issues to a home: the roots can rot, mold will form, and you’ll end up inviting lots of pests. My solution is, allow your new plant to dry out before you begin your watering; take note of how many days your plant can go until the top two to three inches of soil are completely dry, and then water. Now you have your watering schedule!

   This also leads us to the first of those “overlaps” in care I mentioned, because the next important component to look at is your pot. A plant’s pot works directly with both the water and soil in shaping the environment your plant is growing in. The best rule of thumb for houseplants I could give when it comes to pots is, keep it in the plastic. What I mean is, keeping your plant in its nursery pot gives many benefits: you can swap decorative pots easily, you have better access to the roots/soil for maintenance, and above all, your water can drain. Think back to our house/basement analogy: your plant absolutely must be able to drain the excess water to avoid those issues with rot and pests. A tip I’ll add here is if you’re struggling with identifying if your soil is dry enough, try out a clear nursery pot. Now obviously if you’re looking to save money this is unnecessary, but do note that you can make nursery pots of old clear food containers as well! Seeing into the pot can help you monitor your watering situation, and helps you catch issues with your roots sooner.

   Continuing on the topic of drainage, though, brings us to your soil. Before we jump into tips, let's talk about greenhouses for a second. Something you might not think about when bringing a new plant home is the difference in your home’s conditions from where that plant was cultivated. Most, if not all, plant retailers grow their plants in greenhouses, where the conditions are hot, bright, humid, and the plants need to be able to retain water long enough to make it from there to the store. This is why when you buy a new plant, the soil is often very mossy and squishy for retaining water. If you’ll recall our discussion about water, this soil type is why overwatering happens so often, even when you don’t mean to. So what can you do? Soil is a harder area to tackle for us sticking to a budget who don’t want to buy dirt to make custom mixes, but it is still possible to maintain and grow your plants in their original soil! Stick to the method from our water discussion where you allow your plant’s soil to dry a few inches, and only water when it genuinely feels dry, not just if it hasn’t been watered in a while. 

   The next pillar is the first of the two environmental factors outside of the plant’s pot we’re going to discuss: temperature. The greenhouse temperature your new plant came from will differ from your home. This is another example of factors overlapping, because let’s bring up our house example one last time: if you have a room that stays dark, damp and cold, it can invite nasty things to build up (conversely, if a room stays too hot, wet and dark it can also be bad). But fear not, because you do not have to sacrifice your AC to keep that plant alive! You’ll probably be positioning your plant near a window for sunlight anyway, so that will help keep your plant warm enough. However, many plants suggested for beginners are ones that can live with low light, and this is fine as it is true, but if you notice your low light plant still struggling in said low light, that is where a change in temperature might be your problem, not your light!

   This does bring us to our very last point of discussion itself, light. Seeing as lassoing the sun to position it for your plants isn’t feasible, this quality is going to be the easiest of all; All you have to do is make sure your plant gets some light! It will have its effects on your other areas in terms of drying your soil out faster/slower, and helping your plants grow, but this is also the pillar most out of your control if you aren’t interested in buying grow lights, so don’t let it worry you. So long as you keep the other pillars of your plant well maintained, the light comes most naturally!

   Learning any new hobby as a beginner can be daunting, but the satisfaction of that first new leaf popping out will give you courage. Keep your “Pillars of Planting” in mind as you navigate new plants and see how far you grow! Check out our other blog posts for more tips, or cool items to consider buying when you're ready to add to your hobby collection.